big post, but I'll do my best to address all of your points. I disagree with the nomination here and have for a while.
Threat level
- How difficult is it to stop this Pokemon offensively and / or defensively?
This pokemon is extremely difficult to carry an Offensive Check for, the closest your going to get is Rotom-N and even then its going to be taking a surprising amount of damage from Acrobatics, meaning that, at most, its only going to be checking Archeops once, and not at all if it isnt carrying a Choice Scarf. 252 Atk Archeops Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Rotom: 118-139 (48.7 - 57.4%) -- 94.1% chance to 2HKO. These sort of calcs reside with tonnes of popular checks to Archeops. Possibly the most common Archeops check, Rhydon, is 3HKO'd by the most common coverage move on Archeops, Earthquake, and easily 2HKO'd by Aqua Tail, a common 3rd coverage move or even primary coverage move due to how prevalent Rhydon is in the current meta. Not only this, but here is a list of checks and how well they switch into Archeops, and its vast coverage moveset.
OK, so I'm going to start out by saying that, no, Rotom is not the only offensive Archeops check. Offensive checks to Archeops include Floatzel, Kabutops, Samurott, Rotom-S, Piloswine, and Carracosta, to name a few and, yes, there are quite a few more mons that can check it too. It's obvious that a lot of these can't switch in, but they're called offensive checks for a reason. They check Archeops offensively, as opposed to defensive checks, which check it defensively. These Pokemon force Archeops out, which is big considering how difficult it is to switch-in Archeops in the first place.
If you'd like to talk about defensive checks, yes, Archeops is able to crush a lot of them with its diverse movepool. Unfortunately, that's literally the NU metagame right now. If you don't believe me, I'm going to bring back to everyone's attention Magmortar, Shiftry, Jynx, and WispHex Rotom, a handful of Pokemon outside the S Ranks that have maybe 1-2 good switch-ins in the entire tier. Oh, right, there's also Vivillon, Kabutops, Aurorus, Cacturne, Articuno, and Chatot to drop another couple of names. You can probably name 1 or 2 mons that switch in reliable to each of these Pokemon every time, but ultimately, if any of these Pokemon get a free switch-in, force a switch, and pick the right move, they'll get a kill/sweep. This isn't a "you have to play perfectly for this Pokemon to work" kind of argument I'm spinning here, it's literally the meta right now. Each of these Pokemon are excluded from S Rank, and even A Rank, because of their specific flaws that hold them back. Archeops has its fair share of flaws, which I will mention when I address your next point
- What are the best general methods of dealing with it, and how effective are they?
Via these calcs, the best Pokemon to deal with Archeops would be Defensive Carracosta, Regirock, Mega Audino and Miltank. In the case of the two rock types, they have pure bulk to take it on, as well as ability to hit it with Super Effective STAB moves especially in Carracostas case, with AJ being Super Effective, meaning even if Archeops does run Hidden Power Grass, its still in check due to AJ and the threat that is to take it into Defeatist range.
All in all, these Pokemon in the current meta aren't really easy to fit on a team. Defensive Carracosta / Regirock carry too little of a niche to justify using them over Rhydon (in the case of Costa, Water STAB and Solid Rock and Regirock has Thunder Wave). As a result, their pure usage in the tier is actually quite minimal, meaning that, in reality, you arent going to encounter them very often. Mega Audino is a touch and go subject. The only real set which checks Archeops reliably is the Defensive WishTect set, and even then, it NEEDS to Mega Evolve to avoid a being heeped with pressure by Archeops, Archeops beat Normal Audino's 1v1 eventually, should a crit occur. Non STAB Dazzling Gleam doesn't do enough damage for it to threaten Roost Archeops effectively. The problem with this is that with Mega Evolution you lose the preferred Regenerator ability, meaning its much more susceptible to prior damage. But even moreso the problem, it completely loses to a Taunt varient of Archeops. It means its no longer a reliable way of taking on Archeops since its reliable recovery in Wish and Protect is gone. In Miltank's case, its probably one of the better Archeops checks. The problem with Miltank is that it has to run Physical Defense EV Investment and even then, its flat out 3HKO'd by Acrobatics no matter what. The reason its a good check is because Milk Drink is as reliable recovery as they get, and TWave is enough to make Archeops essentially useless. Miltank however struggles to fit on most NU Teams however. This is due to how popular Offensive Normal Types such as Tauros and Kangaskhan are, and generally, if people are going to run 2 normal types on a team, it will be in an offensive manner, to break each others checks. Miltank doesn't do this. Also, the fact that Normal Types themselves don't resist very many types, people will feel inclined to using something with more resistances such as Rhydon itself, Ferroseed or even Mesprit / Torterra.
First, I'm just going to say that you neglected to mention Musharna and Weezing here. Musharna is very safe switch-in to chops and Weezing has 1 or 2 safe switch-ins depending on how much Pain Split and Sludge recovery you can snag. However, even without mentioning these two, you haven't addressed the actual question the criteria asks here which is "What are the best general methods of dealing with it, and how effective are they?" The answer to this question is not "check every Archeops set defensively," it's "keep yourself in a position where Archeops cannot switch in." This is true of all 4 S Ranks, given that they are powerful offensive titans, but it is especially true of Archeops because of how much easier it is to accomplish.
Archeops sports a very disgusting ability, and terrible defensive typing. You can go on about its great offensive merits, but when it's so pressured to stay above 50% to be a relevant threat, especially when it's weak to the most common entry hazard, it becomes an easily exploitable weakness. Hell, Archeops can't even switch into Defensive Garbodor without fearing a Gunk Shot Poison ruining its potential late-game. This fear of taking any extra damage is what separates Archeops from other relevant wallbreakers because it means it'll be effectively dead twice as fast, possibly faster if you consider other wallbreakers like Sawk and Tauros aren't weak to Stealth Rock and, therefor, aren't taking as much damage per switch in.
- Does the Pokemon have ways of working around its countermeasures? If so, how much does it have to sacrifice to do so?
Apart from Mega Audino, yes, Archeops does have away around its counters thanks to its incredible coverage movepool. Defensive Carracosta is 2HKO'd by a HP Grass Varient (which is also used to bop Quagsire), Regirock has a good chance to be 2HKO'd by a possible Focus Blast Varient and is 3HKO'd by EQ Varients (no recovery too, so each EQ permanently cripples Regirocks survivability). Physically Defensive Miltank is 2HKO'd by Focus Blast, Specially Defensive Miltank is 2HKO'd by Acrobatics. The above calcs also demonstrate that, in pretty much every scenario, Archeops has a way to heap incredible damage to all its supposed checks / counters list.
I'll mostly leave this point alone because one of Archeops' defining qualities is its ability to find ways around its counters, but I would like to mention some discrepancies. Personally, I would never run Focus Blast Archeops considering it's sacrificing reliability for the ability to hit very niche mons, such as Miltank and Cradily. It's useful for hitting Regirock, but Regirock is not the hardest Pokemon in the metagame to prepare for. Additionally, Defensive Carracosta has ~50% chance to beat Archeops in a worst case scenario of it switching into Hidden Power Grass.
4 SpA Archeops Hidden Power Grass vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Solid Rock Carracosta: 186-222 (52.8 - 63%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Carracosta Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Archeops: 134-158 (46 - 54.2%) -- 45.3% chance to 2HKO
4 SpA Defeatist Archeops Hidden Power Grass vs. 252 HP / 64 SpD Solid Rock Carracosta: 96-114 (27.2 - 32.3%) -- 41.5% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
Assuming the Costa users gets >50% on the Aqua Jet roll, it can just sit and Scald because the second HP Grass doesn't kill. Of course, this is guaranteed if rocks were set beforehand.
Oh, and I'd like to make another soft reminder of Musharna/Weezing.
Splashability
- What levels of support are required for this Pokemon to function, and how easy is it to maintain this support on most teams?
The support needed for Archeops to fulfill its roll as a powerful All Out Attacker or Offensive Defogger is minimal. Its typing is useful, providing it with cool secondary resists to flying types, normal types, fire types as well as a ground immunity which is admittedly quite little, but apart from this, its function as an offensive Pokemon gels well with other Popular Offensive threats in this meta. Sawk destroys all of Archeops main counters, Tauros + Archeops core can be used to Lure / Weaken each others checks for strong results and Archeops can finally be used as part of a balance core, to provide a team with Defog. I've seen this set gather a lot of stick recently and i dont quite understand why. All the major stealth rockers in the tier are 2HKO'd by whatever coverage move Archeops decides to run in its final moveslot OR doesn't resist Archeops 140 Base Attack, 110 Base Power Flying STAB. < This hurts should it be unresisted. An AoA set enjoys Defog Support of its own due to the Defeatist ability.
I think you're understating how much support Archeops requires and overstating what its typing can do for it. I'll start with its typing because that's the easiest.
Assuming a best case scenario for Archeops where Stealth Rocks are off the field and it comes in on a resisted hit, I've prepared a list of scenarios:
Archeops vs. Pyroar
252 SpA Choice Specs Pyroar Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Archeops: 169-199 (58 - 68.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Pyroar Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Archeops: 138-163 (47.4 - 56%) -- 82.4% chance to 2HKO
Archeops is knocked into Defeatist and is pressured to Roost. Easy switch in to another offensive threat.
Archeops vs. Magmortar
252+ SpA Magmortar Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Archeops: 136-161 (46.7 - 55.3%) -- 71.1% chance to 2HKO
More sketchy on being knocked into Defeatist, but it's still a strong chance. If you get the roll, Mag is more than able to switch up moves by going for EQ, Flame Charge, or Tbolt to keep Archeops in check.
Archeops vs. Combusken
252 SpA Combusken Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Archeops: 420-494 (144.3 - 169.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
That's the only relevant calc considering if Archeops comes in on anything busken does, aside from BP, it'll get the Speed Boost and can Protect the second turn to be able to outspeed.
Archeops vs. any Flying-type
Rotom-S is a counter for any non-Edge variants, you clearly win against a Vivillon that goes for Hurricane at neutral speed like a silly goon, Scyther 9/10 times clicks U-turn anyways but cool if you catch it using Aerial Ace, and Archeops v Archeops is lol.
I'm only going to address the three most important Normal-types in NU right now, Tauros, Swellow, and Kangaskhan.
Archeops vs. Tauros
252 Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Tauros Rock Climb vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Archeops: 148-174 (50.8 - 59.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Pretty self-explanatory, but Archeops cannot switch into Tauros's Rock Climb and can't Roost on anything it throws out. Plus, speed ties make it even sketchier.
Archeops vs. Swellow
252 SpA Choice Specs Swellow Boomburst vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Archeops: 135-159 (46.3 - 54.6%) -- 63.7% chance to 2HKO
Hitting it with another Boomburst will either kill or keep it in Defeatist, where it fails to kill Swellow.
Archeops vs. Kangaskhan
252+ Atk Silk Scarf Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Archeops: 147-174 (50.5 - 59.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Silk Scarf Kangaskhan Fake Out vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Archeops: 49-58 (16.8 - 19.9%) -- guaranteed 6HKO
252+ Atk Kangaskhan Sucker Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Archeops: 110-130 (37.8 - 44.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
DEdge 2HKOes, Fake Out + Sucker puts you in Defeatist and you have to play 50/50's with Earthquake. Archeops switching into Fake Out is probably the best case Archeops has on this list of resistances considering it has a much stronger chance to win the flips. Of course, Archeops also just loses to Aqua Tail Kangaskhan if it switches in on a Double-Edge.
Of course, these scenarios are only describing moves that Archeops resists and doesn't include Stealth Rock. Again, this outlines how easy Archeops is to pressure because of its frail defenses and poor typing.
This connects with the other point you made about it "needing relatively low support." Archeops desperately requires hazard removal and teammates that can create opportunities for it to come in safely, whether it be through offensive pressure or slow momentum. These may seem like 2 easy things to accomplish on a team, but as the metagame is becoming more and more offensive, it's hard to consistently grab slow momentum, create that offensive pressure against the opponent, and find opportunities to remove hazards. Thus, Archeops comes with an opportunity cost over other wallbreakers, given the support it needs to stay effective throughout a match.
- Does it have multiple roles it can fulfill on different teams? If not, does this one role accomplish enough to set it apart from other options?
It has a vast amount of viable movesets which it can run on any team it likes. Here are the main ones: 3 Attacks Roost, Taunt 2 Attacks, SR Focus Sash Lead, U-Turn, Defog, Special Mixed Set, Choice Band, Choice Scarf and Life Orb Attacker. Obviously, each set has a different roll it can fulfill on each team depending on what the user needs. 3 Attacks Roost functions similarly to how splashable Tauros is. The two have differences such as SR Weakness, Priority Weakness and ability, but Archeops has the arguebly better coverage set and as a result the higher potential of wall breaking and forceing sacks compared to Tauros. Defog is also extremely splashable due to how difficult it is to have a good, offensive hazards control. No other pokemon in NU has even close to Archeops attack AND Defog, meaning it can often be priceless on balance teams, should they be lacking offensive presence as well as hazards control.
It's nice that it has a lot of movesets (although I would say some of them are questionable, like Choice Scarf, and the fact you mentioned 3 Attacks essentially three times by also mentioning Life Orb Attacker and Special Mixed) but that doesn't mean it serves multiple roles very well. Archeops's viable roles are as a wallbreaker/cleaner, stallbreaker with Taunt, lead rocks or Defogger. The only reason it's A+ right now is because of its offensive capabilities, not because of its other sets. These sets do not make Archeops harder to beat, they do not add any level of depth to the way you play Archeops, and, though I know a couple of people are going to hound this, I'm of the opinion that these sets are sacrificing opportunity cost and wasting the potential Archeops has. The stallbreaker set is not fabulously bulk, still sports that awful defensive typing, can't run Leftovers if it wants to maintain any semblance of offensive pressure, and only really beats 1 relevant bulky set up sweeper, Mega Audino. The Lead Sash set is better than it has been, but, like most suicide leads, proves to be extremely matchup reliant and sketchy. Finally, the Defog set is completely mediocre and almost defeats the purpose of Archeops. What makes Archeops so threatening is that it's able to carry that mysterious 3rd coverage move that could beat your supposed counter. However, if you're running Defog, not only does that mean Archeops is even easier to kill, because it will be switching in on Stealth Rock, but it's even easier to switch into because of its limited coverage. It's already hard enough to bring in Archeops, why would you want to waste a turn of its valuable field presence doing something passive like removing hazards?
- What are the roles it fills and how practical are they? Compared to other Pokemon with similar roles, what traits do this Pokemon have over them and how important are these traits?
answered in the last part
I didn't. Tauros has arguably less opportunity cost as a 110 physical wallbreaker in this meta. Much like Archeops, it has interchangeable coverage to beat common switch-ins, but, unlike Archeops, it's consistently threatening until it goes down. Tauros might have 1 or 2 more safe switch-ins compared to Archeops, but it requires way less support and finds itself less pressured because of its better all-around bulk and ability to hit hard below 50%.
Consistent
- How good is this Pokemon at fulfilling its roles? How much do its flaws prevent it from doing its job(s)?
This Pokemon is extremely good at fulfilling its designated roll such as All out Attacker or Defogger. This is due to its high offensive presence and coverage to take on SR'ers...yapyapyap. Its flaws are quite critical. Its bulk is below par and it has a really bad ability in Defeatist, which does limit its capabilities fulfilling its rolls. As a result, Archeops HP should always be managed to be kept at a high enough level so that it doesn't have to take on Defeatist status. This can be done through hazards control or supporting it with a solid defensive core to take on priority attacks.
Yes, it's great that Archeops can fall back on a teammate to support its weaknesses, but the act of forcing out Archeops is the important part. Being able to find another opportunity where Archeops can come in, as previously mentioned, is hard and keeps the pressure on it. I hope I'm driving home this idea of pressuring Archeops because it's really easy to do when it's mostly worthless below 50%. It's also not right to just understate "keep hazards off the field." Hazard control in NU may be getting progressively easier with each shift, but that does not mean it is still easy to accomplish, by any means. There is an opportunity cost you're paying by running teams that require hazard control because of the turns of inactivity they create. Additionally, if the opponent is prepared to pressure your setters, you're playing with a deadened slot. The hazard game is not easily won and assuming you'll always win it does not make Archeops any better of a choice over other wallbreakers.
- Is the Pokemon in question potent at most points throughout a battle?
If we split a battle into 3 sections, and say how Archeops will perform in the Early Game, Mid Game and Late Game, i would say it performs best in the Mid Game and Late Game. In these scenarios, the likelyhood of Archeops checks having had an amount of damage dumped on them is much higher than the Early Game, meaning Archeops can come in, 2HKO the weakened check and proceed to force sacks left and right due to its high offensive presence in the late game. However, it isnt useless in the Early Game. Thanks to its high attack stat and coverage options, it can proceed to weaken its own checks from the getgo. As a defogger, its extremely potent when the opponents Stealth Rock setter has got damage on it to the point where Archeops can take it out, it means Archeops doesnt have to do much in order to effectively Defog and maintain hazards control.
- How useful is it in different matchups? What playstyles does it fare well and poorly against and how dominant are those playstyles?
Archeops generally does well vs Offensive teams (most of the meta) due to its extremely high base speed coupled with base attack and Balance teams due to its wall breaking capability. The archetypes it doesnt fare well with is going to be stall / semistall. This is mainly due to the fact Archeops can't effectively wear down its counters due to Wish Support from Audino and the fact Audino + At least one Flying Resist is on each team. It can only possibly do well if the opponent doesn't have a switchin for Banded Stone Edge or if he, for whatever reason, sacks his checks for Archeops, but we cant assume such things.
I won't argue with you on this point because I mostly agree with it. I could argue about the viability of CB Chops, but I've seen it used a couple times to some success so it's not worth touching on.
Effect on the metagame
- What kinds of trends does this Pokemon set? Think about Speed creep or coverage moves that are run specifically (or at least primarily) for this Pokemon.
The precident Archeops sets in this meta is large. It single handedly invalidates any Flying Resist that can't take an Earthquake from Archeops. A prime example would be Probopass. This would check pretty much every Flyging Type we had in NU Effectively, however, another flying resist is needed on a probopass team due to its weakness to Earthquake, meaning it falls to Archeops, and thus your entire team will too should you have to rely on a Pokemon such as Probopass. The end result= Probopass being deranked since it can't perform its Typing to any extent.
I'll talk about Probopass in the next section because you bring up more points there that should be addressed.
Otherwise, yes, I'll agree again on the fact that Archeops is hard to check defensively and therefor sets some precedents on what can check it.
- Does this Pokemon affect the viability of other Pokemon (both better and worse), and by how much?
We've talked about how Probopass was deranked due to its (in)capability taking Archeops, but it affects other Pokemon too in a positive way too. Its main check, Rhydon, despite the fact its 2HKO'd by Aqua Tail and 3HKO'd by Earthquake, is S Rank, and i cant help but feel its S Rank'ing has something to do with how ""well"" it can switch into an Archeops Acrobatics. A more recent positive ranking is Floatzel. The reason floatzel is ranked so highly now, rather than before, might be because its speed tier outspeeds that set by both Archeops and Tauros. Not to mention the fact that any self respecting Scarfer has to at least outspeed those 2 mons previously mentioned for it carry any kind of weight as a revenge killer.
I would like to say that we deranked Probopass not because it was a bad Archeops check, but because it was an embarrassingly bad Normal- and Flying-type check in general. Sure, Archeops having access to EQ fucked with it, but so did Tauros with EQ, Zangoose with CC, and Kangaskhan with Drain Punch and EQ. It had almost no good points over better Rock-types, such as Regirock and Rhydon, who could simultaneously check Fire-types.
Rhydon is S Rank because it's a catch-all check to Pyroar, Archeops, Tauros, and Volt Switch users, while providing Stealth Rock, and almost invalidating other Stealth Rock users in the process because you're paying a hefty opportunity cost by not running in a lot of cases. Additionally, its offensive sets are very difficult to stop for some teams and can crush certain matchups depending on which nature it chooses and its fourth moveslot, Megahorn or Swords Dance. Sure, Archeops plays a small role in its placement, but Rhydon's certainly not S Rank because of its ability to soft check the bird.
Otherwise, yes, I'll agree with you that Archeops has set an important standard with the 110 Speed tier alongside Tauros. However, I'd argue that Tauros alone would be enough to set this standard, but that's theorymonning.
also, sorry g, I can't just let someone out-paragraph me
